Poverty and Sexual Risk Behaviour Among Young People in Bamenda, CameroonRwenge, Mburano Jean Robert

Abstract

Adolescents' sexual activity is associated with maternal and child health problems, including sexually transmitted diseases and HIV/AIDS. The purpose of this paper is to show that living conditions of families influence sexual behaviours among young people in urban areas in Cameroon. The study hypothesis is that poverty motivates both young males and females to engage in risky sex. The study use data from the survey on the Sexual Behavior of the Young People of Bamenda, which was conducted in August 1995. Multivariate logistic regression analyses were used to highlight the importance of the influence of socio-economic variables on the youths' ability of being sexually active, of having more than one sex partner, of having had casual sexual relations and of not using condoms. Our findings support the above hypothesis. Indeed, young people whose fathers were unemployed and those who lived in poor households were more likely to have multiple sexual partners or to have had casual sexual relations than others in the year preceding the survey. Multivariate logistic regression analyses highlighted also that young people who had not lived with both parents and had insufficient means to satisfy their needs were more likely than others to have multiple sexual partners or to have had casual sexual relations. Qualitative data validated the above results.